A) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a performance data transmission controlling apparatus that transmits a performance data to an electronic musical instrument by using a communication network, an electronic musical instrument that can execute an automatic musical performance based on a performance data, a performance data transmission controlling program and a performance data acquiring program.
B) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a field of an electronic musical instrument, computer music etc., there is a service that provides a performance data that is used for an automatic musical performance or the like via a communication network. For example, a personal computer or the like can receive a charged performance data provided from a server by using the Internet, and the received performance data can be input to an electronic musical instrument connected to this personal computer. The electronic musical instrument executes various performance or various processes based on the input performance data. Moreover, the performance data can be listened to for a trial before purchasing by a listening trial data.
Since the electronic musical instrument functions independently from the network, a normal operation is possible in a state connected to a computer. For example, copying of the performance data provided for a listening trial can easily be possible by editing in the electronic music device and transmitting to other storage medium. For this reason, there is a risk that the performance data for the listening trial is used illegally, and there is a problem from the point of view of protecting a copy right of the performance data.
Also, conventionally, the performance data is transmitted from a personal computer to the electronic musical instrument with a status wherein the performance data can be stored in a floppy disk is configured beforehand in the body of the electronic musical instrument. At this time, the personal computer only transmits the performance data without confirmation of a status of the storing unit (the floppy disk). So, in the case of the state wherein the performance data cannot be stored in a floppy disk by a lack of the confirmation by a user, the performance data cannot be stored in the floppy disk, and it causes that a purchased performance data for purchasing cannot be received.
By the way, the personal computer and the electronic musical instrument are mainly connected by a widely used cable based on the MIDI standards. Also, the standard MIDI performance data is widely used. For this reason, it is necessary that the data that is transmitted from the personal computer to the electronic musical instrument is transmitted with the standard MIDI data from a MIDI output. Also, since the performance data is the standard MIDI data, the standard MIDI performance data is transmitted from the personal computer to the electronic musical instrument without any conversions.
Therefore, the performance data output from the personal computer can be output without a limitation as a data that can be used for an automatic musical performance. Therefore, there is a risk that the performance data for a listening trial or purchasing is used illegally, and there is a problem from the point of view of protecting a copy right of the performance data.